Swan from an eternal dreamscapeby LAURA THOMPSON for the Daily Telegraph

The production isn't perfect, but then a perfect Swan Lake would be as dull a thing as a perfect Hamlet. It is impossible to "resolve" this ballet without taking away some of its life. ...

In this Bolshoi version, the ballet is made considerably more taut and pared down. The transitions between the two worlds - such as the passage in which Siegfried goes off with his friend to shoot swans - are removed. The swan lake is a dreamscape, pure and simple.

A Leningrader, he [Grigorovich] had youthful knowledge of his native city's sufferings in the war, and exorcised them by showing Rome's oppressive militarism in terms of the goose-stepping German army. And he shifted the centre of theatrical attention away from the ballerina to the heroic possibilities of the Bolshoi's tremendous men: Vladimir Vasiliev, the first Spartacus, was the hero as flame of belief; Mikhail Lavrovsky was the hero as idealist; 20 years later Irek Mukhamedov was the hero as hero.

A ‘Giselle’ that pleads for its Moscow stagingby CLEMENT CRISP for the Financial Times

The second act (apart from Hilarion’s merry interventions) is decently respectful of tradition. I felt that, with the restoration of the former Lavrovsky staging, the Bolshoi Giselle could once more be a sublime experience, “a holy ballet” as Tamara Karsavina once called it. The real and unchanged joys of the staging are the ways the troupe performs the piece: the second-act Wilis are still an exemplar of classic grace and schooling, of Bolshoi academic tradition.

I caught up with the third leg of the Bolshoi’s tour in Nottingham where they were performing a Gala programme presumably in honour of the Easter holidays, certainly a holiday atmosphere prevailed in the theatre where everyone seemed excited to welcome the company back after an absence of thirty years.

The first item on this gala programme was the Ballroom Scene from “Swan Lake” danced by newcomer Ekaterina Krysanova, a young dancer for whom the Bolshoi has very high hopes and on this viewing one can see why. Technically secure and full of confidence she danced the role of Odile like an old pro with especially impressive fouettés with her arms thrown upwards into a V shape above her head. She can act too and wove her web of deception with a mixture of subtlety and determination. Her prince was Dmitri Goudanov whose courtly manner makes him one of the best balletic princes around. He danced with his trademark light elegant exactitude that made an interesting contrast with Krysanova’s earthy virtuosity; they make an intriguing pairing.

The middle ‘diverts’ section began with “Les Sylphides” though I question its suitability as gala fare, taken out of context it lacks the romantic atmosphere so essential to the work, but Anna Antonicheva is such a beautiful dancer that had she gone on stage just to perform a handful of classroom steps I would still have been content. Her partner was a dancer new to me, Egor Khromushin, who is very good looking and appears promising, though he had little to do in this particular number but give sympathetic support.

Next came the “Flames of Paris” pas de deux, a piece I really love, its so seldom performed and always a delight to watch and on this occasion it was danced by the company’s new wunderkind, Natalia Osipova, a gala performer to her fingertips. She sailed through the opening jetés displaying the most impressive elevation I’ve seen since Tatiana Terekhova and in her solo she made the hops on point look like the easiest steps in the world to perform. Osipova is clearly a highly talented young lady who must already be seriously considered as one of the finest female virtuosos around. Osipova’s partner was Yan Godovsky who matched the height of her jumps effortlessly and danced with speed and precision throughout, but the anxious expression on his face all the way through puzzled me as his dancing is so secure he has nothing to look anxious about. Even an audience that yelled approval at everything he did couldn’t put a smile on his face.

“La Fille Mal Gardée” pas de deux is not the familiar Ashton but a rather pretty earlier Russian version by Gorsky and was danced by the youthful Anastasia Stashkevich and Viacheslav Lopatin. Lopatin caught my eye as the jester in “Swan Lake” a couple of weeks ago and this performance just confirmed my thoughts that I was watching someone special. A very musical dancer he is what I can best describe as stylish and meticulous and his weightless jumps and fleetness of foot make him look more like a French or Danish dancer than typically Russian. Unfortunately his partner couldn’t quite match him though as the somewhat difficult choreography seemed a little beyond her

The middle section of the evening concluded with the Don Quixote pas de deux and the company rolled out the big guns for the occasion: Maria Alexandrova and Sergei Filin are now super stars of the ballet world and they take to the stage as if they own it. If top-notch performances are what you came for, these two are guaranteed to deliver. Don Q. requires dazzle and glamour and over the years that’s what I’ve come to expect. Alexandrova looks directly out at her audience and shows us how it ought to be done, Filin clearly thinks “anything she can do I can do better” and the result is one of those performances where the partners egg each other on to further virtuosity. Needless to say the result left you breathless.

The second act of “Spartacus” is the act without any bad stuff in it (unless you happen to be a Roman of course). Opening with the shepherds welcoming the slave army, moving on to the reunion between Phrygia and Spartacus and ending with the defeat of Crassus in hand to hand combat everything goes right for the eponymous hero in act 2, unlike the preceding and following acts. I was very happy to see Yuri Klevtsov in the title role again after a gap of almost two years, as he has grown in the role to a degree I wouldn’t have imagined possible. He now ranks as one of the finest dancers in the role of Spartacus in the ballets history. As his adversary, Crassus, Alexander Volchkov was an arrogant coward posturing in front his fellow Romans and snivelling before the triumphant slaves and was aided and abetted by Ekaterina Shipulina’s alley-cat Aegina who was as nasty a piece of work as her lover. What a superb pair of actors those two are. Svetlana Lunkina completed the quartet of principals as Spartacus’s devoted wife and a special mention should go to Denis Medvedev as the leading shepherd, hurtling across the stage in a manner that seemed to threaten life and limb, he led his hyper-active shepherds in a celebratory dance that was both exhilarating and exhausting to watch.

The orchestra was conducted by Pavel Klinichev who set a cracking pace in “Spartacus” and seems to be the latest in a long line of memorable ballet conductors from his country; he treated us to music of real concert hall quality. I enjoyed the evening so much that I went to both shows the following day and booked for two more performances in Southampton, the next leg of the tour. The problem with being a ballet fan is that sometimes you can get a bit carried away.

Cassandra is not the only one who got carried away with the Bolshoi tour.....I saw 11 performances, but it really should have been every one!

This is a fantastic company at the very height of it's powers - the male corps in Spartacus (and the female also) were fantastic - dancing of such power, beauty, commitment and respect from the dancers towards what they are doing, such as that it literally brought tears to my eyes to behold. The belief these people have in the greatness and importance of their heritage and what they are doing is truly inspiring.

Yuri Klevtsov lived up to his nickname of Mr 110%, giving his all as Spartacus. Ignore the luckwarm reviews you may have seen for Belogolovtsev, he cannot act and has always been an uninspired Spartacus - you will note that Clement Crisp had the sense to go to Manchester, and not the official press night in Birmigham, because he knows the difference between a Klevtsov and a Belogolovtsev Spartacus, unlike many other critics seem to when laying into the piece without actually realising they saw a very weak lead. With a great cast Spartacus is magical, and was magical, on this tour. There is plenty of room within the framework of the piece for acting, if someone is on stage who can act that is. There is some really great choreography in Spartacus, I disagree with those who ravage the piece - of course it is of a certain genre, and some just don't really like this type of work.

A revalation for me was Volchkov as Crassus - absolutely brilliant! Stunning! Again a shame many critics seem to have seen the other Crassus, who, as always, was unimpressive. Volchkov had a complete mastery of the role, the best I have ever seen on stage. A little more work might be needed to clean up the partnering, but otherwise this is a new boy to watch at the Bolshoi.

Another beautiful newcomer is Slava Lopatin - a very special young dancer. The Fille pas de deux in the gala was a complete delight - beautiful delicate footwork, a lightness in the air and on landing - feet hovering lightly above the stage as if a feather carried on a light breeze, such an ease of movement, delightful charm and musicality on stage, and to die for upper / lower body co-ordination that sang with the joy of dance.

And then of course Krysanova's Odile absolutely stunning in Nottingham....

And then of course Osipova's Flames of Paris absolutely stunning in Nottingham....

And then of course Denis Medvedev's Lac Jester absolutely stunning in Nottingham and Southampton....

And then of course Gudanov's Lac Prince absolutely stunning in Nottingham....

And then of course Allash's Aegina absolutely stunning in Birmingham and Nottingham....

And then of course Denis Medvedev's middle Shepherd in Spartacus absolutely stunning everywhere....

And then of course the four boys in the pas d'action in Giselle Act 1 absolutely stunning in Nottingham....

There is so much more one could say. Moment after moment stunning....

In short, if you love great ballet and you did not go, where were you? You should have robbed a bank to pay for the tickets!

Thanks a bunch, Tahor, for your passionate comments - sounds like you had a ball.

As someone who missed the tour, I can only say in my defence that I was out of the country for most of the period. I have changed some flights so that I can back in the UK for the Bolshoi at the Royal Opera House, so perhaps that can be taken into consideration before sentence is passed down.

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